Oven vent construction



March 1946- E. D. PELLEGRIN EI'AL 2,396,122

OVEN VENT CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 24, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J? J 'y' 14jJ' 13 F Z6 19 .36 ,1 17 1e 29 IL; .10 z

rav i 1 4 March 1946- E. D. PELLEGRIN ET AL 2,395,122

OVEN VENT CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 24, 194]. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedMar. 5, 1946 OVEN VENT CONSTRUCTION Elmer D. Pelleg-rin, Woodstock, andJohn F. Hennessy. Rockford, IIL, minors to Geo; D. Roper Corporation,Rockford, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application October 24, 1941,Serial No. 416,300

12 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved oven vent construction fordomestic gas ranges.

Oven vents have heretofore usually been constructed to deflect theproducts forwardly and downwardly over the cooking top, "but in manycases such abrupt change in the direction of flow resulted inobjectionable slowing down in the discharge of the products. A salientfeature of the vent structure. of our invention lies in the fact thatthe products are deflected forwardly from the back rail only enough toavoid contact with the wall behind the range but not enough to benoticeable to the housewife standing in front of the range or enough toslow up the escape of the products from the oven or ovens.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide an oven vent structurein which the grill fairly efl'ectively obscures the discharge end of theflue, while nevertheless allowing substantially unobstructed dischargeof products from the -flue.

Another object consists in specially constructing the flue and providinginwardly projecting flanges defining the vent opening in the back railso that the flue flts into the opening well enough to insure free andunobstructed escape of the products.

Another important object of the invention consists in the provision ofan oven vent structure of the kind mentioned, the outer grill of whichis applicable to the top of the back rail interchangeably in either oneof two positions, so that it is adaptable to use on different styles ofranges having back rails of different dimensions, the fastening studs onthe grill being disposed in a plane bisecting the front top cornerportion of the grill so as to be insertible in spring clip fastenersprovided therefor in the front top cornerof the back rail in either ofthe two positions of the grill reversed end for end relative to the backrail.

Still another object consists in the provision of agrill for an ovenvent structure of the kind mentioned having easily fracturable knock-outportions thereon, which are removed only when the grill is placed on arange equipped with electric light flxtures where the standards for thefixtures require notches formed by the removal of the knock-outportions, these portions being otherwise substantially indistinguishablefrom the outside of the grill.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the top portion of a gas rangeequipped with an oven vent made in accordance with our invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view of a portion of the back rail showing the vent;

Fig. 3 is a top view of a portion of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking in thedirection of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 1 but showing another rangehaving two oven vents in the back rail and having electric lightfixtures mounted on the back rail at the vent locations;

Fig. 6 is a front view of a portion of one of the grills shown in Fig,5;

' Fig. 7 is a top view of Fi 6; Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional detailon the line 88 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 9 is a vertical section approximately on the line 9-9 of Fig. 5.

Similar reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughoutthe views.

Referring first to Figs. 1 to 4, the reference numeral Ill designatesthe oven vent structure generally, the grill ll of which is applied tothe back rail l2 on the cooking top i3 of a domestic gas range ll. Theback rail i2 is formed from sheet metal to provide a vertical front wallIt, a horizontal top wall l5, and a downwardly projecting rear wall orflange It. An elongated substantially rectangular vent opening I1 isprovided in the back rail, partly in the front wall it and partly in thetop wall I5, as clearly appears in Fig. 4, and is defined by an inwardlydirected flange it, the upper and lower lengths of which are made toextend substantially parallel to one another at an angle ofapproximately forty-five degrees to the top and front walls, l5 and I4respectively, as indicated at l9 and 20, that being the approximatedirection of flow of the products through the vent opening H, asindicated by the arrow 2| in Fig. 4. 22 is the substantially verticalupper discharge end portion of the flue extending upwardly from the ovencompartment or compartments of the range, as, for example, isillustrated in Patent No. 2,336,988 to James F. Hennessy. In the presentoven vent structure the upper end portion of the flue 22, which isgenerally rectangular in cross-section and of approximately the samewidth as the vent opening i1, is disposed with the front wall 23 thereofbehind and in contact with the edge of the flange 20 and with the rearwall 24 thereof in front of and contacting the flange l6, whereby tolocate the upper end portion of the flue in the proper fore and aftspaced relation to the front wall ll of the back rail l2 and inapproximate register with the vent opening". The front wall 23 of theflue has its upper end portion cut away,

as indicated at 25, in order to have the lower portion of the ventopening II in communication with the flue for unobstructed dischargeofprodflve degrees to said wall for contact with the lower side of theflange I9, whereby to deflect products of combustion forwardly andupwardly with respect to the back rail I2. This baflle plate has a loweredge portion 21 welded, as indicated, to the back wall 24. The plate 25extends nearly the full width of the flue 22, being just wide enough tofit easily in the upper end of the vent opening Il between the sideflanges I8 thereof. In that way the baflie plate accurately locates theflue with respect to the vent opening. It should be clear, therefore,that with the flue 22 in such interfltting relationship to the back railI2, the vent opening is in full communication with the flue, andinasmuch as the vent opening is substantially larger in cross-sectionthan the flue there is nothing to interfere with free discharge ofproducts of combustion.

The grill II is substantially L-shaped so as to rest with one leg of theL on top of the back rail, with the other leg engaging the front of saidrail. The grill is herein shown as a onepiece aluminum die casting,although the same may be stamped from a single piece of sheet metal. Thegrill comprises a generally rectangular frame 28 having a series ofparallel bars 29 extending across the smaller dimension thereof andjoined at their ends to the longitudinal portions 30 and SI of the frame28. That leg of the L of which the longitudinal portion 3i forms a partis appreciably longer than the other leg of the L, the portion 3| beingproportionately wider than the portion 30, as best shown in Fig. 4. Thisdifierence in length of the two legs of the L defined by the grill II isto adapt the grill to use interchangeably on two different styles ofback rails, the grill being placed with the short leg portion 30 on topwhen applied to a shallow back rail, like that shown at I2 in Fig. 4,but being reversed end for end so as to have the long leg portion 3i ontop when the grill is placed in a deeper style back rail, like thatshown at I2a in Fig. 9. The grill has two studs 32 projecting downwardlyand rearwardly therefrom in substantial parallelism to one another onthe opposite ends of the frame 28. These studs are in a plane parallelto the flanges I9 and 20 and baille plate 26 bisecting the angle of theL defined by the grill. In that way the studs can be entered in springclip type fasteners mounted in the front upper corners of the back railsI2 and I2a in either of the two positions previously mentioned. That isto say, the end for end reversal of the grill will make no difference inso far as entry of the studs in the fasteners is concerned, and bothlegs of the L will seat neatly on the back rail when the studs arepushed all the way in. The interchangeability of the grills for use ondifferent styles of ranges results in a substantial saving in cost andmakes it a simple matter to replace broken or damaged grills.

The grills II, as previously stated, are preferably aluminum diecastings. That makes them impervious to the products dischargedtherethrough from the flues, and it also has the advantage that'when theentire outer surface 34 of the grill is bufled off, the shiny surfaceson the bars 28 and frame 28 greatly enhance the appearance of the grill.The grill may be dipped or sprayed with black enamel before thisbufiing, so

as to blacken the opposite sides of all of the bars 29, as indicated bythe stippling at 35 in Fig. 4, and also to blacken the recessed portions38 in the frame 28 between the ends of the bars, as indicated by thestippling in Figs. 2 and 3. This blackening of all portions of the grillexcept the front shiny surfaces has an effect on the eye tending todistract attention from the interior of the vent structure to theexterior, thus making the internal parts, such as the flue 22 and bafiie26, not at all easily discernible from in front of the range. Thateffect is easily enhanced by enameling the flange I8 with black enameland also coating the inside of the upper end portion of the flue 22 andthe front of the baflle 26 with black enamel, as indicated by the heavyshading of these portions in Fig. 4. There is, therefore, nothingnoticeable from in front of the range,

even close up, that might detract from the good appearance of the range.

In the range illustrated in Figs. 5 and 9, the back rail I2a it will benoticed has an upper section 31 joined to the lower section 38 byU-shaped sheet metal brackets, one of which is shown at 39 in Fig. 9,these being disposed in longitudinally spaced relation with respect tothe sections 31 and 38. The ornamental separator strip 48 spaces thesections and is secured to the brackets 39 by T-bolts 4|, the brackets,in turn, being fastened by screws 42 to the flanges 43 on the sections31 and 38. The section 38 has another ornamental strip 40 spacing itfrom the upwardly projecting rear portion of the cooking top Ba, and thesection 38 is joined to the cooking top I3a by another set of U-shapedsheet metal brackets 39' in the same way, that the sections 31 and 38are joined together. Back rail section 31 has a vent opening Ilaprovided therein, similar to the opening I! in the back rail I2 anddefined similarly by'an inwardly directed marginal flange I812. Theflange defining the rectangular opening Ila serves to locate thedischarge end portion 44 of the flue 22a, which, like the flue 22,serves to conduct products of combustion from the oven compartmentupwardly to the vent opening. There are two of these flues in the rangeillustrated in Fig. 5, one for each of the oven vent structuresindicated generally by the reference numerals Illa, the left hand flue:being associated with the left hand oven in the range Ma and the righthand flue with the right hand oven. The upper discharge end portion 44of each of the flues extends forwardly at an angle of approximatelyforty-five degrees to the vertical front and back walls of the flues toenter the vent openings in the manner illustrated in Fig. 9. In that waygood registration is insured between the flues and their associated ventopenings to insure free and unobstructed discharge of products from theovens. The forwardly inclined upper end portions 44 of the flues whenentered in the, vent openings are brought into engagement with the upperlengths I9a of the flanges I8a, and in sliding upwardly on these flangesthe upper end portions of the flues 22a are located in closely spacedrelation to the lower lengths 20a of'the flanges I8a, substantially asshown other range previously describedand as indicated by the heavyshading in Fig. 9, for a similar purpose.

The electric light fixtures indicated at supporting standards 46 enteredthrough holes 41 provided in the top wall lie of the back rail, and arefastened by means of screws ll entered through holes in the rear flangelBa on the back rail and threaded in holes provided therefor inthestandards. The grills II have to be notched out, as indicated at 49, toflt around these standards. We have, therefore, provided knock-outportions 49a in the edge of the grill, as indicated in Fig. 2 and asillustrated in the enlarged section in Fig. 8. These knock-out portionshave thin walls 50 along the U-shaped outline for the notch so that aworkman can easily break these portions out with a pair of pliers,without danger of damaging the grill otherwise. The notches 49 thusdefined are only slightly jagged, but straight enough to serve thepurpose intended. n the other hand, there is nothing on the outside ofthese grills to indicate where these knock-out portions are, therecesses indicated at 50 in Fig. 8 being entirely from the inner side inthe form of a U to outline the knock-out portions for the notches. Inthat way the same style of grill can be used not only on two differentstyles of ranges but also on ranges with or without light fixtures.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of our invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn with a view to covering all legitimate modifications andadaptations.

We claim:

1. The combination with a gas stove having a back rail projectingupwardly from the cooking top, the back rail having a rearwardlyprojecting top portion, of an oven outlet flue extending upwardly behindthe back rail, the back rail havin a vent opening in the upper portionthereof enlarged so as to extend rearwardly a substantial distance intothe rearwardly projecting top portion, said opening being in verticalalignment with the upper end of the outlet flue, and defiector means fordirecting flue products from the flue at an acute angle relative to thevertical means for directing flue products from the flue at an acuteangle relative to the vertical and upwardly and forwardly through saidvent opening, and an L-shaped flue grill mounted on said back rail overthe vent opening providing portions abutting the upwardly and rearwardlyextending portions of the back rail adjacent the open- 3. Thecombination with a gas stove having a back rail projecting upwardly fromthe cook- \ing top, the back rail having a rearwardly prohave of therear flange, the back rail having a vent opening in the upperportionthereof enlarged so as to extendrearwardly a substantial distance intothe rearwardly projecting top portion, said opening being defined by aninwardly projecting marginal flange having abutment with the front ofthe outlet flue to locate the latter in rearwardly spaced relation tothe back rail, said outlet flue having the upper portion of the frontwall thereof cut away to establish communication with the vent opening.

4. The combination with a gas stove having a back rail projectingupwardly from the cooking top, the back rail having a rearwardlyprojecting top portion terminating in a downwardly projecting rearflange, of an oven outlet flue extending upwardly behind the back railwith the back of the flue in abutment with the front of the rear flange,the back rail having a vent opening in the upper portion thereofenlarged so as to extend rearwardly a substantial distance into therearwardly projecting top portion, said opening being defined by aninwardly projecting marginal flange having abutment with the front ofthe outlet flue to locate the latter in rearwardly spaced relation tothe back rail, said outlet flue having the upper portion of the frontwall thereof cut away to establish communication with the vent opening,and a baflle in the upper rear portion of the outlet flue for deflectingflue products at an acute angle relative to the vertical and forwardlyand upwardly through said vent openmg.

5. The combination with a gas stove having a back rail projectingupwardly from the cooking top, the back rail having a rearwardlyprojecting top portion terminating in a downwardly projecting rearflange, of an oven outlet flue extending upwardly behind'the back railwith the back of the flue in abutment with the front of the rear flange,the back rail having a vent opening in the upper portion thereofenlarged so as to extend rearwardly a substantial distance into therearwardly projecting top portion, said opening being defined by aninwardly projecting marginal flange having abutment with the front ofthe outlet flue to locate the latter in rearwardly spaced relation tothe back rail, said outlet flue having the upper portion of the frontwall thereof cut away to establish communication with the vent opening,and a battle in the upper rear portion of the outlet flue for deflectingflue products forwardly and upwardly through said vent openjecting topportion terminating in a downwardly projecting rear flange, of an ovenoutlet flue extending upwardly behind the back rail with ing, the upperend portion of said baflle projecting into the rear portion of the ventopening so as to locate the outlet flue against lateral displacementwith respect to the vent opening.

6. The combination with a gas stove having a back rail projectingupwardly from the cooking top, the back rail having a rearwardlyprojecting top portion terminating in a downwardly projecting rearflange, of an oven outlet flue extending upwardly behind the back railwith the back of the flue in abutment with the front of the rear flange,the back rail having a vent opening in the upper portion thereofenlarged so as to extend rearwardly a-substantial distance into therearwardly projecting top portion, said opening being defined by aninwardly projecting marginal flange having abutment with the front ofthe outlet flue to locate the latter in rearwardly spaced relation tothe back rail, said outlet flue having the upper portion of the frontwall thereof cut away to establish communicathe back of the flue inabutment with the front 76 tion with the vent opening, and an L-shapedflue grill mounted on said back rail over the vent opening providingportions abutting the upwardly and rearwardly extending portions of theback rail adjacent the opening.

'7. The combination with a gas stove having,

a back rail projecting upwardly from the. 600k ing top, the back railhaving a rearwardly projecting top portion terminating in a downwardlyprojecting rear flange, of an oven outlet flue extending upwardly behindthe back rail with the back of the flue in abutment with the front ofthe rear flange, the back rail having a vent opening in the upperportion thereof enlarged so as to extend rearwardly a substantialdistance into the rearwardly projecting top portion, said opening beingdefined by an inwardly projecting marginal flange having abutment withthe front of the outlet flue to locate the latter in rearwardly spacedrelation to the back rail, said outlet flue having the upper portion ofthe front wall thereof cut away to establish communication with the ventopening, a battle in the upper rear portionof the outlet flue fordeflecting flue products at an acute angle relative to the vertical andforwardly and upwardly through said vent opening, and an L-shaped fluegrill mounted on said back rail over the vent opening providing portionsabutting the upwardly and rearwardly extending portions of the back railadjacent the opening.

8. The combination with a gas stove having a back rail projectingupwardly from the cooking top, the back rail having a rearwardlyprojecting top portion, of an oven o'utlet flue extending upwardlybehind the back rail, the back rail having a vent opening in the upperportion thereof said back rail over the vent opening providing portionsabutting the upwardly and rearwardly extending portions of the back railadjacent the opening.

10. The combination with a gas stove having aback rail projectingupwardly from the cooking top, the back rail having a rearwardlyprojecting top portion, of an oven outlet flue extending upwardly behindthe back rail, the back rail having a vent opening in the upper portionthereof enlarged so as to extend rearwardly a substantial distance intothe rearwardly projecting top portion, said opening being incommunication with the upper end of the outlet flue and serving todischarge therethrough products from said flue upwardly and forwardlywith respect to the back rail.

11. The combination with a gas stove having a back rail projectingupwardly from the cooking the middle portion of said grill covering theven enlarged so as to extend rearwardly a substantial distance into therearwardly projecting top portion, said flue having an upper dischargeend portion extending at an acute angle relative to the vertical andforwardly and upwardly into the vent opening so as to direct flueproducts at an acute angle relative to the vertical and upwardly andforwardly through said opening while holding the flue against lateraldisplacement with respect to said opening, and an L-shaped flue grillmounted on said back rail over the vent opening providing portionsabutting the upwardly and rearwardly extending portions of theback railadjacent the opening.

9. The combination with a gas stove having a back rail projectingupwardly from the cooking top, the back rail having a rearwardlyprojecting top portion, of an oven outlet flue extending up wardlybehind the back rail, the back rail having a vent opening in the upperportion thereof enlarged so as to extend rearwardly a substantialdistance into the rearwardly projecting top poropening, and means fordetachably securing sai grill to said back rail comprising studs on the'opposite ends of said grill projecting inwardly therefrom in parallelrelation to one another and in a plane bisecting the angle formed by thetwo legs ofthe L, and fasteners for receiving said studs mounted on theback rail on opposite sides of the vent opening in coaxial relationshipto said s uds.

12. The combination with a gas stove having aback rail projectingupwardly from the cooking top, the back rail having a rearwardlyprojecting top portion, of an oven outlet flue extending up wardlybehind the back rail, the back rail having a vent opening in the upperportion thereof enlarged so as to 'extend rearwardly a substantialdistance into the rearwardly projecting top portion, said opening beingin communication with the upper end of the outlet flue, a flue grill ofinverted L-shape adapted to rest with oneleg there? of in abutment withthe front of the back rail and the other leg resting on the top portion,the middle portion of said grill covering the vent opening, and meansfor detachably securing said grill to said back rail comprising studs onthe opposite ends of said grill projecting inwardly therefrom inparallel relation to one another and in a plane bisectlng the angleformed by the two legs of the L, and fasteners for receiving saidstudsmounted on the back rail on opposite sides of the vent opening incoaxial relationship to said studs, said grill being reversible end forend and applicable by means of said studs in the same fasteners in thereversed position.

ELMER D. PELLEGRDI. JOHN F. HENNESSY.

